And what do we talk about on Fridays? YES! Alcoholic things! Wheee!
BUT FIRST.
As to yesterday's guessing game* . . . Yes, I am indeed beginning the Mulberry Juicing Insanity. (For an explanation of bat cheese, see this post and read the comments.) So far, I've collected seven quarts of berries, which have yielded two quarts of juice. When I have six or seven quarts of juice, I'll can it. At the rate they're coming, that should only be a few days. By which point the counters, the sink, and my fingers will all be stained dark purple, and the MiL will probably wish I had gone to Nevada with A. I don't think she likes it when the sink gets all nasty and purple. But she does like mulberry juice, and so she will fret in silence.
But fussing around with mulberries isn't enough for me. No, I decided I needed to do something else in the food-prep category. Luckily, before A. left, he pointed out some elderberry trees in flower that grow in the hollow near the mulberry. He told me the fruit is good for making jelly. I never even knew they were there, but I HAVE heard of elderberry wine before (where did I hear about it? no idea--information flows in and out of my brain unchecked and mostly unused, unless it has to do with food), and so I catalogued that for future reference. Then yesterday, I decided to look up recipes for elderberry wine.
Elderberry wine looks like a pain in the ass to make. Yeast nutrient? Say what? I'm not going to special-order stuff for a wine that looks to be sickeningly sweet and syrupy. However, I did note in my search something called elderflower champagne. I like champagne! There are flowers on the elderberry trees right now! Let's investigate further! So I did.
Elderflower champagne is not, of course, real champagne, as that particular fizzy beverage is only made in France, in Champagne. Imagine that. Nor is elderflower champagne particularly alcoholic. (Or so they say. Not having tried it, I have to take it on faith that one glass of it won't get you totally bombed. These things are a bit subjective, you know.) But it IS easy to make and is supposedly light and refreshing. That is, not heavy and syrupy. Plus, I had all the ingredients at hand. All it requires are elderflowers--which apparently have some kind of natural yeast on them that produces the fizziness--sugar, water, lemon, and white wine vinegar.
(There was one note to make sure to smell the flowers before you use them, because they can sometimes smell like cat piss and "whatever odor your flowers have will be imparted to your beverage." Cat piss champagne! I sense a niche product for crazy cat lovers!)
So I grabbed some flowers that did not smell like feline urine, mixed all the ingredients together in a big ole mason jar, and left it to sit and ferment for awhile. It takes a couple of weeks before it can be tasted, so you'll have to endure the suspense until then.
Sure, it LOOKS pretty. But will it taste like cat piss? Stay tuned!
It sure is getting exciting around here, huh?
And speaking of exciting!
In other, non-alcoholic news, we had a baby hurricane blow through here yesterday afternoon that did some damage. There were limbs down in the yard, limbs across the driveway, literally half the Bradford Pear tree in the lambs' pasture blew over, a whole walnut tree in the hollow cracked at the base and fell, and the walnut tree right next to the chicken coop actually ripped up at the roots and fell on the sheep shed in the pasture.
Don't worry. The sheep are okay.
However! By some absolute MIRACLE, nothing fell on the numerous power lines and we didn't lose power once. This shed that A. built is actually supporting the weight of the entire tree, so I think he can be proud of his building skill. Only part of the cinderblock wall in the chicken coop was wrecked, so the coop is still standing. The branches hanging over the opening to the shed form a nice leafy bower for the sheep, who will no doubt enjoy eating the leaves on the branches they can reach. None of the animals were hurt, although the chickens were, understandably, quite upset, and squawked their disapproval in no uncertain terms.Unfortunately, the sole chainsaw operator won't be home for another week and a half, leaving me to drag away as many of the branches as I can and leave the big boys for his return.
Wait, did I say this was non-alcoholic news? Scratch that. I think I need a drink.
* In which only a few of you participated--I'm disappointed in the rest of you. I hope you can live with that.
If I remember correctly, elderberry wine was considered an acceptable ladies wine. I think it was quite popular in the early 20th century.
ReplyDeleteThe elderflower champagne process sounds a bit how my grandmother used to make Mavi.
It is great that you didn't lose power, but having to haul away debris warrants a drink or two.
P.S. Have a nice weekend.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, was that mini-hurricane scary? The wind was so strong it actually pushed a huge tree over...roots & all? I would have been terrified. My husband (from Southern Louisiana) thinks I'm crazy...he thinks hurricanes are no big deal. Okay? Katrina? What are your thoughts? Of course, I've never been through a natural disaster except a mild earthquake.
ReplyDeleteYay to drinking!!! I think you should bottle your mulberry drink & sell it to the rest of us who are too lazy to make it ourselves. :)
I figured why give an answer , when it was already revealed in earlier posts. Don't forget the more flowers you pick the less fruit you have , so you may or may not want to make 'lots'of champagne. I am on pins and needles waiting for the results...maybe you should start a new jar every day so you will have enough to tide you over, in case it happens to be scrumptious, all the flowers may be gone in two weeks. Didn't really look like it took to many flowers from your photo. My word verification is 'reatops'. ;)
ReplyDeleteIf you would be so inclined, I'd like some of that crazy weather, please. I can't take this ridiculous heat.
ReplyDeleteCat pee champagne. An acquired taste, hmm? ;-P
Wow - that was quite a storm! You should save some of the walnut wood to make something pretty like a side table or something. I've never heard of Elderberry champagne. Now I need to go find out if we have Elderberries around here. Sounds great!
ReplyDeleteIt's times like this that I know your dad would love to live close enough to relieve you and A. of some of that great wood. Ah, the woodworking projects he could envision.
ReplyDeleteI totally would have gotten the mulberries right, but sadly have had little-to-no blog reading time lately. Dang.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid to see what that elderflower champagne is going to look like in a couple of days when it starts to ferment. Eeek. But it'll probably taste good. Sure looks pretty right now.
"* In which only a few of you participated--I'm disappointed in the rest of you. I hope you can live with that. "
ReplyDeleteWhen I started reading your blog, I left comments in many places, a few of which were long ones.
You never seemed to reply. Sorry if I missed it -- but I stopped checking for a reply from you after a week or two.
Why should you expect input from your readers when you don't respond? You post, you request feedback; we post, and it must be accepted that it vanishes into the void?
Only here would the words "cat piss" and "champagne" be used in the same post and make sense.
ReplyDeleteCat piss champagne ... I see infinite marketing possibilities. This could be the MUST-HAVE gift for the holidays.....
ReplyDeleteOh, dear! I'm glad you and your sheep didn't get injured in the storm.
ReplyDeleteYou've been tagged: it's here! http://compostermom.blogspot.com/2009/06/to-tell-truth-or-not.html
I'm trying to whip up a batch of homemade bailey's today for our Guinness 4th of July party next Friday. It will be used for Irish Car Bombs of course and for some Irish Car Bomb cupcakes I've been wanting to make for so long!
ReplyDeleteThe only mental reference I have for elderberry wine is from that eighties-tastic Tom Cruise movie Legend (SPARKLES!!!) where the little elf/gnome/whatever he's hanging out with (Brown Tom) is totally boozing on it throughout the entire movie. If I remember correctly Tom Cruise ends up getting blitzed on it as well at some point...
ReplyDeleteSounds like a fun experiment! Glad to hear y'all survived the mini-cane!
~ Black Thumb Girl
Elderberry wine is a fairly common thing in England. My dad used to make it- of variable quality but when it was good it was very very good.
ReplyDeleteElderflowers make a great cordial, and you can make a delicate wine from them. You can also eat the flowers in a salad.
Melissa--Yeah, it was a little scary. Though I would never presume to compare it to Katrina. My grandmother was evacuated from New Orleans for that, and the whole thing was just awful from beginning to end.
ReplyDeleteMog--Most of the recipes I saw seemed to be English. I wonder why it never caught on here?
Hi Kirsten, Late getting back to your reply to my comment! I've been indisposed as they say.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the elderflowers arent so common here? I'm just across the water from you and haven't seen one elderflower tree at all.
Have you heard of Sloe gin?? Now that would be worth your while. Do blackthorn bushes grow in your area??